Calvary Bible Church - Pastor Ken’s Weblog

Sunday, January 27, 2008
Romans 12:1-13
“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

For the last couple Sunday’s, as we look forward to our Annual Meeting, we have been looking at a couple fundamental questions every individual believer and every congregation ought to ask:

• Are we doing what Christ has called us to do?
• Do we increasingly reflect Christ in our services, ministries, and actions?

The questions imply that we should be looking toward those steps that we need to take, individually and corporately, to be able to answer in the affirmative if we discover we are not doing what He has called us to do and reflecting Him in that doing.
We talked about the fact that God has given the church a mission that is people-focused and Christ-centered. That mission is the task of proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ and helping those who respond to the gospel to grow-up in Christ. We said that this is true of every congregation of believer’s in every place.

The mission does not change with time, culture, or congregational size. Methods may change, and undoubtedly do in each of those areas, but the mission never does. We said that people maturing in Christ, then, people becoming more Christ-like in attitude and action, should be the ultimate measure of success for any church.

Not number of people attending, number of people joining, the size of the building, how many programs they have or what kind of music they use. People becoming more Christ-like, living in obedience to the will of the Father. Jesus said in John 14:30-31: “I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me, but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me.”

Christ-like. Reflecting Christ in my service, ministry and actions, not striving to bring credit or glory to myself. We looked at the Great Commission as an initial basic indicator or measuring rod; asking if we were in fact going, making disciples, baptizing them and teaching them to obey everything the Lord has commanded us to do.
We looked at how we accomplish that through word and deed, living our testimony and speaking it. Then last week we also looked at Paul’s analogy of our physical bodies as an illustration of the Church, which is the body of Christ. God, working through the Holy Spirit, gifts each Christian with a spiritual gift to be used for the building-up of the church. He also arranges the parts, (you and me) in the body as He sees fit for the purpose of continuing the ministry of the Lord Jesus. Through us as His body, equipped, empowered, and enabled by the Holy Spirit, under the authority, direction and guidance of Jesus Christ, who is the head, we minister to one another.

Paul showed us the amazing diversity and value of such gifts and the unity necessary to properly function as His body. He showed us that while we are unique and different, that is exactly what God intends and that in God’s sight different in gifting does not mean a difference in value. It shouldn’t mean that to us either.

As Paul said: “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” Our goal then, is to determine our position in the body, our function, and then by God’s grace do our part! As we said, the practical result of being joined to one another in Christ is that we need other believers in order to grow spiritually. Conversely, if we need other believers, then other believers also need us.

Every member contributes to the overall well-being of the church. There are no unnecessary members. Each of you here today has a gift, given by God for you to use in the church to help accomplish the mission of proclaiming the gospel of Christ and helping those who respond to the gospel to grow-up in Christ.

In light of that, we come to today’s scripture. This is “practical Christianity 101” as Paul lays it out for us. In the first 11 chapters of this letter he laid out the basic theology and doctrines of the faith, now he shows us how to put them into practice in order to fulfill the commands of Christ. Saving faith results in active obedience on our part, and Paul details what that action should be. Let’s take a look:

Paul begins with two verses that I believe have the power to completely change your life, when you commit to apply them. They have mine. Romans 12:1-2 “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.” It is one thing to profess faith in Christ, it is quite another to live your faith in a visible, tangible manner. Here, Paul shows us the first step.

We must offer God our very lives as a “living sacrifice.” To be an acceptable sacrifice, our lives must be holy and pleasing to him. They are made holy positionally through the shed blood of Christ, and kept holy practically by an obedient lifestyle. We are called to be Holy. Offering our bodies as holy, pleasing, living sacrifices is our spiritual act of worship, our “reasonable service” to God. Just going through the motions, “doing” Church, is hypocrisy. Jesus was clear on His opinion of hypocritical worship. Speaking to a group of Pharisees and teachers of the law in Matthew 15:7-9 he said: “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.” They were just going through the motions. We may fool the people around us, but God looks at our hearts, and knows the motive behind our thoughts and actions, our worship included. Speaking to the Samaritan “Woman at the Well” Jesus said in John 4:23-24: “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and His worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”

Our acceptable worship then, is when we truly die to self and crawl up on that alter, presenting our “living” bodies sacrificially to Him, for His use and purpose. The visible, tangible expression of this is our repentance, our turning or transformation from looking, thinking and acting like (conforming to the image of) the “world” around us, and allowing the Holy Spirit of God to transform our lives into the image of Christ by the renewing of our mind. From the inside out, as it were. And by the way, this is a process, not an instantaneous change. When we acceptably worship then, in actions and heart, in spirit and truth, we will be able to “test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will.” Matthew Henry says in his commentary: “What is the great effect of this renewing, which we must labour after: That you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God. By the will of God here we are to understand his revealed will concerning our duty, what the Lord our God requires of us. This is the will of God in general, even our sanctification, that will which we pray may be done by us as it is done by the angels; especially His will as it is revealed in the New Testament, where “He hath in these last days spoken to us by his Son.”

Knowing God’s general will, we can better answer that first question: “Are we doing what we are called to do?” Paul then goes on with more practical instruction for us as believers, as those who have offered God our bodily service with a right heart and attitude and a renewed mind for His purpose and plan. He starts where we need to, with our attitude, and moves to our service, our different types or kinds of service.
Verses 3-8: “For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.” He reminds us that who and what we are is no glory of our own, it is God who gives each one what He determines. We can no more brag and boast about our gifts and position in the body than we can our physical genetic make-up! I like to say I am blessed with good health because I picked good parents, but anyone with any sense knows I had nothing to do with it. It is the same in the body of Christ, the church, isn’t it. “Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.”

As we saw last week, we are a community, a body, not simply a conglomeration of parts. We are designed to function as a whole, a unit. Diversity is good, but it is meant to be unifying, not divisive. “We have different gifts, according to the grace given us” (again, not of our doing or even asking, but given by God. I Corinthians 4:7 “For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?) Here Paul lists several of the grace gifts with which God has equipped the church for the carrying out of the mission He has given. “If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith.” Just as there is no room for pride, there is no room for a false modesty that either denies the existence of gifts or refuses to use them.

We use them in proportion to our faith, the power given by God to each believer to fulfill the various ministries in the church. This is the gift of preaching rather than fore-telling supernaturally revealed truths. But the emphasis is not on the person or the specific gift, but rather the putting that gift to use.

Paul continues: “If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.” Serving or service here means any kind of service needed by the body of Christ or by any of its members. While many people have this gift, many don’t put it to use. Fortunately, many do.

If you see a need and just handle it, this may well be your gift. If you see a need and wait for someone to ask you to meet it, it still may be your gift; you just haven’t used it enough to be comfortable with it yet! Don’t worry about it, practice makes perfect! This is a gift that has many different expressions in the body. As we saw last week in I Corinthians 12:5 “There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.” The gift of service is, in my opinion, one of the greatest ones to have, because there are so many ways and opportunity’s to use it! Paul goes on, he says if your gift is teaching; teach! Use it.

If encouraging, then be a Barnabas, be such an encourager that you earn the nickname! I think encouraging finds its greatest expression in encouraging other Christians to do and be all God has called them to do and be! Contributing can mean both giving what is yours, as God impresses it on your heart to give, or possibly being involved in distributing what has been given by others in Jesus’ name. There is need for both in the Church. The church has need for gifted leadership, and those who have this gift need to use it diligently. Leadership is a serious responsibility. Paul ends with the gift of mercy, that of extending care to the sick, the poor, the aged and the needy. He tells those who have this gift to exercise it cheerfully. Serving those in need should be a delight, not a chore. Proverbs 17:22 reminds us: “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” This is especially true when reaching out to others in mercy.

Paul continues with the practical application of body life. Verse 9: “Love must be sincere.” The world, and the church, hate a hypocrite. Agape love is the love of action, not emotion. We choose to agape others. But even then, it must be sincere. We must love because we understand the agape we have received from God, and with an understanding of our responsibility to agape others because we are the body of Christ fulfilling the ministry of Christ. I John 4 details this love for you, if you want some homework!

One commentary stated: “Paul, as did the Savior before him, stressed the fact that love is not only the norm of the Christian life, it is the motivation and ruling principle of the Christian life. The love of which he speaks is no mere emotionalism or sentimentality. The Greek term here translated “love” is agape and implies an unselfish love, because agape-love is a love willfully exercised and expressed to those who would not be naturally appealing or would not automatically reciprocate.

Did you ever notice that in the church, the body of Christ, people you would never click with apart from the love of Christ become your brothers and sisters, and you begin to truly love them? It has been defined as loving for love’s sake, loving without expecting anything in return. It is a term that emphasizes giving, not receiving. One of the reasons we have trouble with this is that our flesh wants to get something for loving. When we don’t, we either want to quit or get resentful. We can become insincere. Hypocritical. We have to die to the flesh and love in the Spirit, agape.

Paul goes on. Hate what is evil, cling to what is good. When our love is genuine, void of all hypocrisy; then that love will express itself in varying forms as Paul has shown us here. And one form of its expression will be to hate what is evil and cling to what is good. Proverbs 8:13 “To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.” When we properly love, we will hate what God hates and love what he loves, we will cling to that which is good, His purpose, His plan. His, not ours or the worlds.

Paul continues with more practical aspects of body life for us to implement: Verses 10-12: “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.” I think he speaks here of the priority of our loving. Jesus identified who we show brotherly love to by defining who His true family was. Matthew 12:50 “For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
He defines one aspect of His Father’s will for us in John 6:40 “For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” He set a precedent for our responsibility to the body of Christ, the Church above that of our own flesh and blood. Not to the exclusion of our flesh and blood, but I believe in priority over it. Not a popular doctrine.

I believe, and I may be wrong but I don’t think I am, that according to Scripture we have a higher responsibility to exercise our spiritual gifts and spend our time, energy, and resources working at building-up the body of Christ than spending time watching TV or playing cards or tipping a few beers with unsaved or carnal members of our biological family.

Paul, writing in the power of the Holy Spirit, tells us to be devoted to one another in brotherly love. One of the primary problems with the church today is that we are not devoted to one another. We put the needs of the body, especially the individual members of the body, towards the bottom of our priority list. We do church if there’s not something else going on that gets in the way. And be honest, the excuses we use for neglecting the body of Christ are pretty flimsy when you look at them from God’s perspective. And yes, I do mean neglecting.

Paul goes on. “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” Wouldn’t you like to see your brothers and sisters in Christ exhibiting a zealous heart toward spiritual things? Where did we get the idea that we need to be sorrowful saints in order to please God? Christianity is exciting! AMEN? Amen! So, express it! Get excited about fulfilling the mission; proclaiming the gospel and edifying the body!

We certainly don’t have any trouble being zealous for the Packers, or deer hunting, or shopping or whatever else gets us cranked up! Paul tells us to be joyful in the hope we have in Christ. Peter had the same idea.

I Peter 1:3-9 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade–kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith–of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire–may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

That’s worth getting excited about! Peter touches a little in that section on Paul’s next point, being patient in affliction. Paul them reminds us of one of the most important acts of love, being faithful in prayer. We must not only pray in hard times, but also maintain communion with God through prayer at all times.

And finally, Verse 13: “Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.” One of the reasons God blesses us materially is so that we can share the blessings we enjoy with those who are in need. Paul cautioned the Christians in Galatia in Galatians 6:7-10 “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”

Another expression of “sharing” with God’s people is practicing hospitality. James uses this as the example of living faith. James 2:15-17 “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”

The aging apostle John too has something to say about the subject. I John 3:16-18 “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.”

Hospitality gives us the opportunity to use the gifts God has given us through his Spirit to express the love of Christ to one another. I think Peter sums it up for us the best. I Peter 4:7-11 “The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.”

In His grip,

Sunday, January 20, 2008
Scripture text for today: 1st Corinthians 12
“Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”

Last Sunday I said that every individual believer and every congregation ought to ask two fundamental questions. First, “Are we doing what Christ has called us to do?” and second, “Do we increasingly reflect Christ in our services, ministries, and actions?” We addressed the first question to some degree then. We’ll look at some more aspects of the questions this week.

Before we do, we should probably identify what the biblical definition of the “Church” is as it pertains to this question. My “Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms” says it is: “A word generally used to translate the generic Greek word “ekklesia,” which variously means “gathering, assembly, or congregation.” However, the New Testament tends to use the word to refer to all those who by faith in the person and work of Christ as the fullest revelation of God have entered into a new relationship with God and with one another, who are the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit on earth and who have been given the task of proclaiming the present and future reign of God in the world, both by the verbal declaration of the Word of God and by the administration of the ordinances or sacraments.

The “church” is founded on the past work of Christ in his death, resurrection and ascension, points to the return of Christ in the future, and seeks to live in love by the power of the Spirit in the present.” That’s a pretty good definition, in my opinion! A simple and common definition of the term ekklesia is: “the called-out ones.”
Peter puts it well for us in I Peter 2:9-10 “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

I love Peter’s emphasis on our purpose: “that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.” That’s a great test of that first question, the “Are we doing what God called us to do?” question, isn’t it. Are you declaring His Praises? Is that an integral part of what we do as a Church? The idea behind Peter’s phrase is to testify, in life and word, Gods amazing grace, not just sing praise songs or shout “Praise the Lord” when we find a parking place close to the door of our favorite store.

Paul further defines the “Church” for us in Ephesians 1:22-23 “And God placed all things under His feet and appointed Him to be head over everything for the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills everything in every way.” I think that we as a Church are to be the physical manifestation of the “body” of the risen, glorified Christ in this world in which we live. God in His wisdom has determined that we should have the privilege and responsibility to carry on the ministry of Jesus. He glorified Jesus, raising Him from the dead and seating Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms, sent the Holy Spirit to inhabit, empower, equip and enable each believer to continue as the “Body of Christ” the mission and ministry of Christ. While He walked the earth, Jesus was limited in certain aspects of His deity. While He was fully-God, he could not, for example, express the Godly characteristic of omnipresence. He could only be in one place at one time.

Ryrie states: “The kenosis (emptying) of Christ during His incarnation does not mean that He surrendered any attributes of deity, but that He took on the limitations of humanity. This involved a veiling of His pre-incarnate glory and the voluntary nonuse of some of His divine prerogatives during the time He was on earth. He was completely God and truly man. To deny either the deity or humanity of Christ requires denying the other.” That is a powerful statement. Through the members of His body, the Church, he can physically be in many more places at one time than when He walked the earth in His own human body. He retains control and direction as the “head” of the Body, and through His Holy Spirit, empowers, equips and enables it. Pretty amazing, when you think about it.

Paul uses the analogy of the body when speaking about the Church quite often. Our passage for today is only one example. Here, I believe Paul speaks of the specific ways that the Lord has equipped the local Church to accomplish the purpose He has set for her.

Let’s walk through it again:I Corinthians 12:1-3 “Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant. You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.”

It’s important to remember that Paul wrote this letter in response to problems brought to his attention by visitors to Ephesus from Corinth and a letter or letters received from concerned Corinthian believers. He begins this section, which is evidently an answer to some of those concerns, with a couple of pretty plain statements.

First, he believes Christians should be informed about spiritual gifts, not ignorant of them. One of the best defenses against false teaching is the knowledge of truth! He is stating the purpose for writing this section of his letter. He then reminds them that there is a difference between those indwelt by the Holy Spirit and those who are not, probably a warning against false teachers who denied the humanity of Christ. True Christians would never curse Jesus, and only true Christians can say, with integrity, that Jesus is their Lord. Accepting Jesus as Lord means making Him the authority by which we conduct our lives.

That, by the way, is another good self-test. Under whose authority do you conduct your life, your own or the Lords? Paul then tackles the issue at hand, laying out the basics, beginning with Verses 4-6: “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.”

These verses, reflecting the Trinity, show the diversity and unity of spiritual gifts. First he mentions gifts, gifts of grace produced by the indwelling Holy Spirit. Not earned, but given by grace. Paul presents this aspect more clearly I think in Romans 12:6a “We have different gifts, according to the grace given us.” He makes the point that no matter the grace gift you have, it is the same Spirit who gives it. Next he mentions that we have different kinds of service. This is the Greek word that in its various forms is used to indicate service to the Christian community. (Such as serving tables as in Acts 6:2-3; it is also the word used a little later in the first-century Christian church for the office of deacon. )

Here again, the service may differ from person to person, but it is the same Lord who directs you to it. He wraps it up by stating that there are different kinds of “working” or effects. The Greek word indicates power in operation. Spiritual gifts produce results that are obvious. It is the same God “working the work” through the various gifts in every believer, as Paul pointed out in Philippians 2:13 “for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose.” The Triune God is intimately involved in the equipping, directing and working of His body the Church. Paul then continues:

Verse 7: “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.” This may possibly be the most important and yet often overlooked or ignored verse in Paul’s teaching on spiritual gifts. We receive gifts, not for our selfish advantage or because of our own special worth, but for the benefit of the body. Every member of the body of Christ has been given some spiritual gift that is an evidence of the Spirit’s working in his life. All the gifts are intended to build-up the members of the Christian community, not the ego of the one with the gift. Peter had the same understanding.

Look at I Peter 4:10: “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.” We are stewards of the gifts we have been given, and have a responsibility to use them properly and faithfully. One of the saddest problems with the “church” in general is that of Christians who don’t use the gifts God has given them. Paul then lists several of these gifts.

Verses 8-11: “To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.” Much has been said about the exact meaning of these examples of spiritual gifts. It is important to remember to keep the context in mind. Paul was writing to a first century church that had a lot of problems, one of which was the misuse of spiritual gifts. They also had only the Old Testament Scriptures, most likely none of the New Testament.

That makes a huge difference in comparing and contrasting the gifts given then with those given today. “All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.” Here again, in the 11th verse, is a plain statement that many chose to ignore. It is God, working through the Holy Spirit, that gives each person the gift or gifts that He determines they should have, again, for the good of the Body, not the individual. Paul emphasizes the concept and importance of unity and diversity in the next couple verses.

Verses 12-13: “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body–whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free–and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.” Here again Paul illustrates the unity and diversity of the different spiritual gifts exercised by God’s people, who are all members of the one body of Christ by the unifying power of the Holy Spirit who indwells each believer, baptizing them into the body of Christ.

Paul says in Ephesians 1:13-14 “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession–to the praise of his glory.” He also reminds us that in the body of Christ there is no racial or cultural or social distinction.

He describes how Christ made it possible in Ephesians 2:14-16 “For He himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in Himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which He put to death their hostility.” This next section was addressed mainly to those who feel that their gifts are inferior and unimportant. Apparently the more spectacular gifts (such as tongues) had been glorified in the Corinthian church, making those who did not have them feel inferior.

Verses 14-20: “Now the body is not made up of one part but of many.” Just as the human body must have diversity in order to work effectively as a whole, so the members of Christ’s body, the church, have been given diverse gifts, the use of which can help accomplish Christ’s purpose. But in order to work effectively, each must properly exercise his gifts or effectively use his position for the good of the whole.
“If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.”

It is only in the context of the “whole” body that we each find our most effective expression. Paul next addresses those who think they can get by without the others in the body, that their gifts, and consequently they themselves, are superior and most important.

Verses 21-26: “The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.”

Paul points out a couple important things here. Christians in the body of Christ are mutually dependent as they exercise their distinctive functions. We need each other! He also reminds us that Christians who may seem to have less important gifts and functions in the body of Christ are actually indispensable, and that it is the “unpresentable” parts that are treated with special modesty. He reminds us again that we are not a congregation of misfits or mistakes, but that God has put us together for His purpose, just as He wants, and His purpose includes having equal concern for one another. We feel one another’s pain, and share in one another’s joy. We are one body.

Verses 27-31: “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? But eagerly desire the greater gifts.

And now I will show you the most excellent way.”

The practical result of being joined to one another in Christ is that we need other believers in order to grow spiritually. There is an equally important corollary to this truth. If we need other believers, then other believers also need us. There is a mutual dependency between the various members of the body of Christ. It is possible to overlook either of these truths in our approach to the Christian life, we may think that we are unimportant or we may view others as insignificant. Every member contributes to the overall well-being of the church. There are no unnecessary members.

So ask yourself: “Are we doing what Christ has called us to do?” “Do we increasingly reflect Christ in our services, ministries, and actions?” Are we using the gift we have been given? Are we satisfied with the position God has placed us in, and the gift he has given us? Do we eagerly desire the greater gifts in our church, not for our personal glory but for the building up of the church to the glory of God? Do we follow the “most excellent” way, the way of agape love?

In His grip,

Sunday, January 13, 2008
Scripture text for today: Romans 2:1-16
“Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance? “

Before we get started this morning, I wanted to promote the Read-Thru-The-Bible-in-a-Year program one more time. I was checking the “Tract Rack” the other day and ran across this flyer: “The Bible Guide” in one of its slots. It’s just one more of the many guides available to you if you want to tackle reading the Bible in a year! It is not too late to start this year by the way; it’s only the 13th of the month. Read an extra chapter a day and you’ll be caught up in no-time! The “Daily Bread” has a Bible in One Year schedule too, in case you’re interested, and we provide them free each quarter as well. Just pick a plan and get at it! Spend a little time in the Word and in Prayer every day, and do what the Lord tells you to do. It will change your life. And it will help you more effectively impact other’s lives for Christ too, which is the theme of the message today!

I want to start this morning with a modern parable:
“On a dangerous seacoast where shipwrecks often occur, there was once a little life-saving station. The building was primitive, and there was just one boat, but the members of the life-saving station were committed, and kept a constant watch over the sea. When a ship went down, they unselfishly went out, day or night, to save the lost. Because that station saved so many lives, it became famous. Consequently, many people wanted to be associated with the station to give their time, talent and money to support its important work. New boats were bought, new crews were recruited, and a formal training session was offered. As the membership in the life-saving station grew, some of the members became unhappy that the building was so primitive and that the equipment was so outdated. They wanted a better place to welcome the survivors pulled from the sea. So, they replaced the emergency cots with nice beds, put better furniture in the enlarged and newly decorated building, and put in a small kitchen so they could offer hot coffee and snacks.

Now the life-saving station became a popular gathering place for its members. They met regularly and when they did, it was apparent how much they loved one another. They greeted one another, hugged one another, and shared with one another the events that had been going on in their lives. But fewer members were now interested in going to sea on life-saving missions, so they hired lifeboat crews to do this for them. About this time, a large ship was wrecked just off the coast, and the hired crews brought into the life-saving station boatloads of cold, wet, dirty, sick and half-drowned people. Some of them had black skin, and some of them had yellow skin. Some could speak English well, and some could hardly speak it at all. Some were first-class cabin passengers of the ship, and some were the deck hands. The beautiful meeting place became a place of chaos. The plush carpets got dirty. Some of the exquisite furniture got scratched. Coffee got spilled. Because of this, the property committee immediately had a shower built outside the building where the victims of shipwreck could be cleaned up before coming inside.

At the next meeting, there was a rift in the membership. Most of the members wanted to stop the club’s life-saving activities, for they were unpleasant and a hindrance to the normal fellowship of the members. Other members insisted that life-saving was their primary purpose and pointed out that they were still called a life-saving station. But, they were finally voted down and told that if they wanted to save the lives of all those various kinds of people who would be shipwrecked, they could begin their own life-saving station down the coast. So, that is what they did.

As the years passed, the new station experienced the same changes that had occurred in the old. It too evolved into a place to meet regularly for fellowship, for committee meetings, and for special training sessions about their mission, but few if any went out to the drowning people. The drowning people were no longer welcomed in that new life-saving station. So another life-saving station was founded further down the coast. History continued to repeat itself.

If you visit that seacoast today, you will find any number of adequate meeting places with ample parking, plush carpeting, nice furniture, warm fellowship and formal training sessions. Shipwrecks are still frequent in those waters, but most of the people drown.”

I came across that story in my studies last semester, and was struck by how vividly it portrays the church, which of course, is the author’s intent. It was first written in 1953, was paraphrased in a different article in 89’ and yet is still too true in 08’, isn’t it. Think about Fond du Lac, and the number of “life-saving stations” that line the coast of this dangerous stretch of the ocean of humanity.

How many have become “meeting places” rather than life-saving stations? More to the point, have we at Calvary Bible Church become a mere meeting place, or are we in danger of becoming one? Maybe it’s time to take a good look at what God expects from His Church, and measure ourselves against His standard.

The New Year is a great time to examine ourselves as a “Church” as well as individually, and to make choices that ensure we maintain our life-saving mission. We touched on much of this in our Discipleship class, and I thought it important enough to share with all of you. In the next couple weeks we will be taking a close look at some applicable scriptures regarding our purpose and responsibility as a church.

Speaking of the Church, the Apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:11-13 “It was He (Christ) who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ (The Church) may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”

God has an agenda for the church. He has given the church a mission that is people-focused and Christ-centered. That “mission” is the task of proclaiming the gospel of Christ and helping those who respond to the gospel to “grow-up” in Christ. This is true of every congregation of believer’s in every place. It does not change with time, culture, or congregational size. People maturing in Christ, then, should be the ultimate measure of success for any church. Not number of people attending, number of people joining, or the size of the building or how many programs they have and what kind of music they use. People becoming more Christ-like and loving one another more effectively.

Every individual believer and every congregation ought to ask two fundamental questions. First, “Are we doing what Christ has called us to do?” Second, “Do we increasingly reflect Christ in our services, ministries, and actions?” No matter where it meets or what its size, the church’s goal is the same.

It is to “make disciples” and use its ministries to help others attain “to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” Jesus laid it out for us in Matthew 28:18-20, what we like to call the “Great Commission.” Listen again to this familiar passage: “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
I think this is a great starting point for the first question we are to ask:

• Are we doing what Christ has called us to do?
• Are we fulfilling the “Great Commission?”

He gives four basic commands here, and I believe they are given to us both individually and corporately. First, He told them to “GO”. He didn’t expect them to sit around and wait for Him to come back, but to get busy with kingdom tasks. We need to do the same thing. Go. Go next door, go to work, school, play etc.. Just “go” and as you go, which is the idea in the original language, share the gospel. Need a little motivation? Look at Proverbs 24:10-12: “If you falter in times of trouble, how small is your strength! Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. If you say, “But we knew nothing about this,” does not He who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not He who guards your life know it? Will he not repay each person according to what he has done?”

I think that is one of those Scriptures we all should commit to memory, or at the very least have written where we will review it on a regular basis. These are commands after all, not suggestions. Jesus said that as we go, we are to “make disciples” of all nations. In context, a disciple is one who follows Jesus Christ. We are to live Christ before others in a manner that allows them to see Him in us and create a desire to follow Him themselves. We are to be the “instruments” in the hand of the Lord to reveal salvation to the lost. The “light” and “salt.”

According to Marks gospel, we are to: “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.” (Mark 16:15) People need to hear the word as well as “see” it lived out. Paul said in Romans 10:12-15: “For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile–the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

As we have seen in Matthew’s gospel, we have been sent. Now we need to follow Peter’s advice, and be ready to preach. I Peter 3:15-16, remember? “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.” Preaching can be as simple as sharing what Christ has done for you, in your life.

Having made the “choice” to be obedient to Jesus’ command to “go” and preach, “making disciples,” we come to the third command, or rather the third aspect of the command. We are to baptize these new disciples, which is the visible, tangible symbol of the change that has taken place in them as a result of having placed their faith and trust in the name of Jesus Christ and a sign of their union with and commitment to Him.

Our instructions are pretty clear; we are to baptize them into the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said to baptize in the “name”, singular, not the names, plural. This is one of the strongest “trinity” passages in Scripture. As one commentary said: “Our one God has one triune name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. To be baptized into the name of the triune God is to be united with him.”

Baptism was an identifying statement of devotion to the one into whose name you were baptized. Matthew Henry says: “Baptism is a sacrament, that is, it is an oath. It is an oath of abjuration, by which we renounce the world and the flesh, as rivals with God for the throne in our hearts; and an oath of allegiance, by which we resign and give up ourselves to God, to be his, our own selves, our whole selves, body, soul, and spirit, to be governed by his will, and made happy in his favour; we become his men, so the form of homage in our law runs. Therefore baptism is applied to the person, because it is the person that is dedicated to God.”

That brings us then to the fourth and final aspect of the command; we are to “teach” these new believers, these disciples, to obey everything He commanded us. Christ enlists soldiers in His army so that He may train them for His service. This “teaching” comes through example and instruction as we welcome them into the “body”, build relationships with them, disciple the new disciples. Adam Clarke had a great line in his commentary. He said: “Men are ignorant of Divine things, and must be taught.” It doesn’t come naturally or automatically. The Church plays a prominent role in the implementation of these final two aspects of the command. It has a role in the first two as well, but I think those are primarily “individual” tasks and responsibilities.

I personally do not believe it is the local church’s task to “go” and be the primary proclaimer of the gospel. It shares in that responsibility, but I believe the primary responsibility for going and making disciples is placed on Christians as individuals. Now I could be mistaken, but that’s my position until I see it differently in Scripture. The primary struggle that most of us have, new disciples or old, is obeying this command completely. Jesus said: “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” It is human nature to want to pick and choose which of Christ’s commands we want to obey, and to teach others to obey. But that is not what He said. It’s kind of like picking and choosing which parts of Scripture we want to believe. It just doesn’t work that way.

You may not like what scripture says, but you had better believe it. Christianity is pretty much an “all-or-nothing” choice that we need to make. Ist John 2:3-6 “We know that we have come to know Him if we obey His commands. The man who says, “I know Him,” but does not do what He commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys His word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in Him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.”

It’s pretty plain really, isn’t it? Choices. To believe and obey, or to try it our own way. To walk as Jesus did, in obedience to the Word and to the Father, or to pick-and-choose the parts we like and hope we’ll be okay in the end. That is not a gamble I’m willing to take, at least not any more. I used to. But I’ve seen the light! I’ve discovered the “Fear of the Lord.”

Need a little more motivation to make the right choice? Listen to this word from the prophet Nahum. Nahum 1:2-3 “The LORD is a jealous and avenging God; the LORD takes vengeance and is filled with wrath. The LORD takes vengeance on his foes and maintains his wrath against his enemies. The LORD is slow to anger and great in power; the LORD will not leave the guilty unpunished. His way is in the whirlwind and the storm, and clouds are the dust of his feet.” We sometimes forget that God’s patience does have limits, that the God we so often ignore and disobey is still the God Nahum was talking about.

God hates sin, and will judge it. Psalm 5:4-6 “You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil; with you the wicked cannot dwell. The arrogant cannot stand in your presence; you hate all who do wrong. You destroy those who tell lies; bloodthirsty and deceitful men the LORD abhors.” One final word of warning. Romans 2:4-6 “Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance? But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. God “will give to each person according to what he has done.”

One source said: “The “Great Commission” contains an evangelical commission and a Church or pastoral commission. The evangelical (or, missionary) charge is contained in the words, “Go, make disciples of all nations.” This was addressed to all the disciples who were there with Jesus (possibly over five hundred present at that time) and to those throughout this age. (You and me) Then, each new disciple was to be baptized into the reality of the triune God, thus setting a seal of visible discipleship upon each new convert.

The church or pastoral charge is found in the words “teach them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you.” In the teaching there is implied the feeding and shepherding. Every new believer needs this teaching. For the fulfilling of the great commission, Jesus grants strong encouragement. First, we can go and make disciples of all nations knowing that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Christ, and it is in His authority that we work. Second, we can always know that Christ is with us, regardless of the circumstances, even to the end of this age.” The command is given to us individually and as a Church. It is only one of the commands it’s true, but it is a critical one.

Earlier I said that every individual believer and every congregation ought to ask two fundamental questions. First, “Are we doing what Christ has called us to do?” and second, “Do we increasingly reflect Christ in our services, ministries, and actions?” We addressed the first question to some degree today, or at least one aspect of it. How do you think we measure up? What do you need to do to ensure that you as an individual are doing what God has called you to do in this area? Prayerfully ask the Holy Spirit to help you see the “choices” you need to make to be obedient to His call. Then, prayerfully ask what you can do to ensure that we as a “Church” are doing what we have been called by God to do in this area, and what if any “choices” we need to make to be obedient as a Church. We’ll look at question two next week.

In His Grip,

Sunday, January 6, 2008
Scripture Text for today: Genesis 4
“At that time men began to call on the name of the LORD.”

“Choices” seemed an appropriate title for the first message of 08’! Many of us look at the beginning of a New Year as an opportune time for reflection and contemplation on choices we made last year and choices we need to make this year to bring about desired goals and objectives. Hindsight is often 20/20, as the old saying goes, and we learn by looking back and seeing the effect of choices we made, good and bad. That helps us make better choices, or at least, it should.

I’m not big on making “New Years Resolutions” but there are a few things I like to determine to do each year, and they’re probably very close to resolutions! For some reason, about this time of year I get sick of being so out-of-shape and overweight, so exercise and a more realistic diet (much less chocolate and ice-cream) become a viable part of my routine. I’m not sure it’s technically a “New Years Resolution,” but it’s pretty close! I also think it’s a great time to look at our “spiritual fitness” and make some choices to improve that as well.

We should all probably commit to memory Paul’s advice to Timothy where he tells him: “train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” found in I Timothy 4:7b-8. In my opinion, one of the best ways to train yourself to be godly is to spend time daily in the Word of God and in prayer, and then apply what you learn to your daily practice of life. But it needs to be more than a “New Years Resolution” if you want to succeed.

There is something inherent in “New Years Resolutions” that leaves failure as a legitimate alternative. For the believer, failure in training yourself to be godly is not an option. You can be a fat Christian, an out-of shape Christian, even a bad-habit struggling-with Christian, but you cannot be an ungodly Christian.

Godliness will help you keep godly resolutions! Remember that with resolutions, intent is critical. If you are simply trying to be more worldly, don’t look for God’s help! If your resolutions focus on making you more acceptable to the world’s standards or are self-centered and egocentric, they’re probably not God’s will for you.

Remember Romans 12:1-2 “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Paul tells us in Romans 8:29 that we are to “be conformed to the likeness of Christ.” Resolutions that lend themselves to godly living have victory available through the power of prayer and the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. Paul tells us in Galatians 5:24 “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.” That brings Victory! We sin because we chose to sin, we become godly because we chose to “train ourselves to be godly.” It’s hard work, not unlike the physical training we undergo, but the rewards are both current and eternal, as Paul pointed out.

I like reading through the Bible every year as a part of my “godliness training.” There is a great sense of satisfaction as I reach the end and then turn back to the beginning to start over again in the New Year, and every year I learn more and see things I didn’t before! Last year was a little weird because I changed my reading pattern to accommodate my schooling. I read the Old Testament from January to May, then the New Testament from late August to mid-December. I started again this year with a chronological Bible, which I really prefer in a read-thru-the-Bible-in-a-year program.

My wife Mary started the same thing, but with a Bible from a different publisher, so they’re a little different and we compare notes from time to time. She is actually the reason I chose this section of scripture for this mornings message! She is wiser than she realizes, and asked a question that got me digging a little deeper. Let’s take a closer look:

Genesis 4:1-2 “Adam lay with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, “With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man.” Later she gave birth to his brother Abel.” Mary said something like: “were Cain and Able twins?” I had never thought of it before. I read that verse every year for 10 years or more, and never thought about the boys being twins, but Mary did. She said it reminded her of her sister and her twins, how she gave birth to the first one, and then later, his brother! I did a little digging later at the office, and it turns out they probably were twins! That makes what happens a couple verses from now even more heinous.

In separate pregnancies, scripture usually says something on the order of: “and she conceived and gave birth” or words to that effect. Here it simply says: “later she gave birth to his brother Able.” A literal reading would be something like: “she added to birth his brother.” It’s not a big deal, just one of those amazing things you discover as you read and study the Word. What we do not know is when the twins were born, or how many other children Adam and Eve had. We don’t even know if they were her first children or not, just that they were the first recorded.

We know their occupations, as verse 2 continues: “Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil.” Cain was a farmer, his younger brother a shepherd. Neither was a better occupation; both were valuable and necessary trades. Their Dad was a gardener. We also don’t know how old they were when the following story unfolds, but it would seem that they were old enough to be married, possibly with families of their own.

Verses 3-5: “In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.”
This is where the story gets interesting. Both men brought an offering to the Lord.

That was a good thing. They brought to the Lord an offering of the work of their hands. Again, a good thing. There was no “Levitical” requirement for offerings as yet. Worship was probably simple, and evidently presenting an offering was part of it. The offering was not the problem, though many a sermon has been preached on Abel’s offering being “right” because it was the “fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock” while Cain’s was fruits of the soil. That wasn’t the issue.

The problem was with the heart attitude of the one giving the offering. Cain brought “some of the fruits of the soil” and offered them to the Lord. He did not bring some of the first-fruit, he did not bring the “best” of the fruit of the soil; he brought “some.” Almost as an after-thought, a last-minute gesture, a “this is good enough” expression.
Well, it was not good enough, was it. Cain showed disrespect to God by what he brought. He made a bad choice. Abel, on the other hand, brought as his offering something of value, a sacrifice, the “fat portions” of one of the first-born of his flock. Again, not because that was the sacrifice or offering required by God, but because he understood the worship of offering to the Lord an offering of value.

The writer of Hebrews, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit tells us Abel brought an offering by faith. Hebrews 11:4 “By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.” The contrast is not between an offering of plant life and an offering of animal life, but between a careless, thoughtless offering and a choice, generous offering.

Motivation and heart attitude are all-important, and God looked with favor on Abel and his offering because of Abel’s faith. Cain resented the fact that God accepted his younger brother’s offering but rejected his, and rather than look at how to properly honor God with his offering, blamed God and his brother, and became very angry, and his anger so controlled him that it showed on his face! Have you ever seen anger displayed on the face of someone? Not a pretty sight, is it. Especially in church!

I wonder what our faces would reveal if the Lord Himself displayed his acceptance or rejection of our offerings on Sunday when the ushers return the plates to the table here in front of the sanctuary? Think it would make a difference in how and what we give? For some it just might. Do we give a choice, generous offering, or a careless, thoughtless, last-minute one? Only you and God know. But, you and God do know. God knew Cain’s heart too.

Verses 6-7: “Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.” God confronted Cain with his problem. He confronts you and I too. The Holy Spirit convicts us of wrongdoing as surely as the Lord convicted Cain of his. Listening to and obeying God remains our choice though, just as it was Cain’s.

God gave him the answer. Stop doing wrong, choose to do right. Here we see the classic struggle between good and evil. Anyone full of envy and strife is a target for the Evil one. How many sinners perish, not because there is not a Savior able and willing to save them, but because they will not use that which is within their power. As Scripture says in II Peter 3:9b “He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” He gave Cain the chance to repent. But He doesn’t force it. He leaves the choice to us. Cain made his.

Verse 8: “Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.” The first murder was especially heinous because it was committed with deliberate deceit (”Let’s go out to the field”), against a brother.

Listen to what the Apostle John said in I John 3:11-15: “This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous. Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.” This first murder is a striking illustration of the awful consequences of the fall.

Verses 9-12: “Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” Like the question posed to Adam in Genesis 3, it wasn’t that God didn’t know, he wanted to give Cain an opportunity to admit guilt. “I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” When confronted with his sin, he did what most sinners do; he lied. Directly to God! I’m reminded of Proverbs 19:3 “A man’s own folly ruins his life, yet his heart rages against the LORD.” Cain acts like God has a lot of nerve asking him about his brother. But he forgot that God knows the heart, and fully knew what had happened to Abel. He asked for Cain’s sake, to give him one more chance to confess and repent. Cain basically spit in His face.

Verse 10 “The LORD said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. (This statement indicates Cain probably dug a shallow grave and buried his brother in an attempt to hide his crime.) When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.” The ground had been cursed because of his parents’ sin, but now Cain himself is cursed. Formerly he had worked the ground, and it had produced “life” for him. Now the ground, soaked with his brother’s blood, would for him symbolize death and would no longer yield for him its produce. The curse on Cain was not just that the ground would no longer produce for him, but he was driven from the land he had lived in and destined to become a “restless wanderer.”

Verses 13-14: “Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is more than I can bear. Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” Confronted with his crime and its resulting curse, Cain responds not with remorse but with self-pity. In his eyes, it’s not his sin that was the problem; it was God’s punishment of it. His path of sin was virtually uninterrupted: irreverence for God as shown in the offering he brought, anger, jealousy, deception and murder, lying and finally, self-pity. The final result was alienation from God himself.

As the Prophet tells us in Isaiah 51:1-3 “Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt. Your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue mutters wicked things.” One commentary stated: What an overwhelming sense of misery! Yet he shows no sign of penitence, and he makes no request for pardon. He is only concerned about his punishment. But in reality the sentence was a light one. Why was his life not taken? (This was another of Mary’s questions!) Apparently because no specific prohibition against murder with an appropriate sentence had been given. That would come later, after the flood, in Genesis 9:6: “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man.”

But Cain feared for his life, now that his sin was uncovered as revealed in his statement “whoever finds me will kill me.” This statement shows that the population of the world was increasing according to God’s command to Adam and Eve to “Be fruitful and increase in number”, it wasn’t just Adam and Eve and Cain living. Some commentaries speculate the population to be anywhere from 1200 to several hundred thousand. We see again God’s mercy, even to those whom we cannot see as deserving it in Verse 15.

“But the LORD said to him, “Not so; if anyone kills Cain, he will suffer vengeance seven times over.” Then the LORD put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him.” Scripture does not tell us what the mark was, but it was specific to Cain, not something passed down to his children and grandchildren. God did not turn his skin black, initiating the black race as was erroneously taught from many a pulpit in the past.

Verses 16-18: “So Cain went out from the LORD’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden. Cain lay with his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was then building a city, and he named it after his son Enoch. To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad was the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael was the father of Methushael, and Methushael was the father of Lamech.” In an effort to solve his own problem and defeat the curse, Cain builds a city, a place for the restless wanderer to settle, away from the presence of the Lord. But I doubt his restlessness went away. Cain’s offspring continue in his rebellious tradition against the ways of God. Lamech is a prime example, he was the first to enter into polygamy, and boasted of murder. We won’t go into his story today. God showed mercy to Adam and Eve as well, and the chapter closes on a positive note.

Verses 25-26: “Adam lay with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, saying, “God has granted me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.” Seth also had a son, and he named him Enosh. At that time men began to call on the name of the LORD.”

One commentary had this to say: “Seth means “appointed.” For Eve, Seth was to replace murdered Abel. The name may have theological significance, since from this line comes Noah, Abraham, David and Jesus Christ. “At that time men began to call on the name of the Lord” - rather: by the name of the Lord. This suggests that in the midst of the debauchery of the Cainites, Seth’s family worshiped Yahweh. They began to be called sons of God.”

We have seen how choices affect not only the one who makes them, but those around them as well, and often they can have generational effects. The choices we make are important. Mary is fond of the saying: “Every decision is a spiritual decision” and I am tempted to agree with her. We affect our future by the choices we make every day.
We notice it more as we begin a New Year, but it is true every day of our lives. We don’t always know which decisions are the life-changing ones, it’s not always obvious.

That’s why it is critical to “train yourself to be Godly” and seek divine guidance on every decision and choice. Cain didn’t start out with a decision to kill his brother. Sin is subtle, and we need to be on our guard against it. Take Paul’s advice, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Time spent in the Word and in Prayer on a daily basis will help you be able to discern truth and make right decisions and choices.

In His Grip,